


Even the Stars They Burn

by StarrySkies282



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Other, Platonic Relationships, Sisters, goldstein kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 15:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10812156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrySkies282/pseuds/StarrySkies282
Summary: Tina and Queenie as kids, just a collection of drabbles





	Even the Stars They Burn

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,  
> Hope you enjoy this Goldstein sisters as kids fic/drabbles thing that I wrote x  
> ps. I got the title from the song "I won't give up" by Jason Mraz

Tina and Queenie had very few memories of their parents before they had died, but, at eight and five, the thing that they both remembered was their mother singing to them— especially the Ilvermorny School song. The two had had it memorised since the time they could talk, lisping it in their lilting voices. 

**** 

They were there when the healers came, standing by. Clutching at each other when the healer turned, shaking his head. The two had tumbled to the ground, stumbling in their grief. Five-year-old Queenie not completely understanding what was going on, and for the first few weeks she would call out for mama and papa. It was all Tina could do to stop herself from calling out with her. But no. She mustn’t. She must remain strong for them; it was just like mama used to sing: “We stand as one, united.” Even in this dark time, Tina remembered what their mother had told them, a few weeks ago, at the beginning of the end: “You two must take care of each other, support each other through thick and thin no matter what.” She turned away from Queenie, so she would not see the tears coursing down her face.

**** 

When Queenie was merely three years old, she had begun to complain of headaches, of it being too loud, not being able to sleep, hating being around huge crowds. They had gone to the healers, who conducted several extensive tests. All of which Queenie had thought, were useless: she was not sick. Then the results had come back, and there were hushed discussions between mama, papa, and the healers, but Queenie heard it all, despite being shut in her bedroom with her sister. She had felt her mother’s sorrow, her father’s concern. She was a Legilimens. But she must learn how to control it. Otherwise, they said, it will be too overwhelming for her. It already was. 

**** 

At six years old, Queenie possessed a wisdom unusual for a child her age, and a perception of others almost unattainable by all. But still, she managed to retain a complete innocence about her, which everyone would fall for. Three years since the discovery of her ‘gift,’ and Queenie still found it hard to control. They said it would take time, but they never said _how_ long. She still could only barely block out the thoughts. But it was not enough. She needed more time. But it would take longer than ever now she only had her older sister.

**** 

A few weeks after the passing of their parents, and when the visitors had stopped coming to call, it was clear something needed to be done about the two sisters. They could not stay in their parents’ apartment: there was no one to pay the bills and two children clearly could not live by themselves. Mrs. James from downstairs, who had often baby sat for the Goldstein parents had made various calls, written numerous letters: there really seemed no one to take the Goldstein orphans in. And then finally, one reply came back. An orphanage by the name of Rosenburg, in Massachusetts. So the two found themselves packing their small trunks with their pitifully few possessions: the money for the sale of their house going to the last months’ rent, the healers’ fees and the funeral bills. At eight and a half, Tina had read enough books to know that orphanages were _not_ nice places And she couldn’t have been more right. 

Rosenburg’s was the type of orphanage that scrimped on everything. Food, clothing, candles, heating, water. It was hopelessly cold in the winter, so cold that icicles would form on the _inside_ of the building. And the woman who ran the place was worse still. Middle-aged and stoical, it was hard for Tina to understand why she wanted to run an orphanage if she so clearly detested children.

****

And so, the two sisters raised themselves, haphazardly, in a place of cold, dark misery, side by side, pulling each other through each day, keeping in their hearts the things they were sure of: one, in a few years, Tina would be off to Ilvermorny, where she would plead a special case, for them to take Queenie on two years early, so she would not be alone, two, one day they would buy back their parents apartment, and three, that they had each other, and for them, that was enough. The days rolled by, tumbling into each other as they bided their time at Rosenburg’s, secretly living in hope. The memory of their parents’ death never fading, the sadness never growing less, but still, surviving in each other’s’ company: one pulling the other up when one was down, both comforting each other in the long nights when no one else would hear their cries and making each other laugh. They both knew that if they were not together, things would have been very, very different indeed. 

“Tina,” Queenie had said, one night as she crawled into her sister’s bunk. “How long do we stay here for?” Tina knew Queenie knew the answer, that she could see it in her head, but still she asked, willing Tina to respond, for Tina to make it all okay again. It broke Tina’s heart. 

“Soon, my Queen,” she replied. “Just as soon as that letter comes and I can write back, dearest Queen.” Replied Tina, caressing Queenie’s blonde curls fondly as Queenie ran her hands through her older sister’s dark tousled hair. It was a habit they had fallen into, a way of comfort that reminded them of the way their mother would brush their hair before the fire in those happy, distant evenings. 

“Teenie?” The blonde asked again. “Do you think mama and papa would be happy with us if they could see how we are now?” Tina had to fight back the tears before answering, making sure her voice was steady and measured. “I’m sure they’d be happy with the way we’ve managed to make the best of a bad situation, how we’ve supported each other through it all. It’s like pa always said: “everything always seems better if you only look on the bright side.” 

Queenie smiled at this, and hearing the church bells ringing in the distance, pronouncing midnight, she turned to her sister once more: “Happy birthday, Teenie,” she said, enveloping her older sister in a hug.

**** 

“Ms. Tina Goldstein.” The superintendent called at breakfast the next morning. “A letter for you from an— _Ilvermorny_ School? It seems you’ve been offered a place. I don’t know what for, but it seems to be a scholarship of some sort,” clearly showing what she thought of _girls_ in education.

Tina had to contain her excitement from the no-maj, feigning that she didn’t know a _thing_ about Ilvermorny as she walked up to take the letter from superintendent Bell’s hand.

“Oh, Teenie!” Cried Queenie, clapping her hands excitedly, “Open it.” 

_“Dear Ms. Tina Goldstein,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We are well aware that you are a special case, having been notified of the death of your parents three years earlier, that you have one younger sister, a Ms. Queenie Goldstein who needs taken care of, and we propose to you this offer—_

Here, Tina gasped.

“Keep reading, Teenie,” begged Queenie, tugging on her sister’s arm.”

“Alright, alright,” said Tina, continuing: 

_“We propose for your sister to come to the school with your sister, despite her being two years younger than the age limit. Isolt the Fair would not want a child to go uncared for, so we offer your sister to live within the school, side by side Professor Miraz whose children live on campus with her._

_We hope you will consider this offer for your sister, and we look forward to seeing you at the start of term in September, Ms. Goldstein. You will also find enclosed a list of necessary requirements for first years and an address to contact if you are in need of financial assistance._

_Yours,_

_In Isolt’s name,_

_Mrs. A. Blackthorn, deputy head”_

Tina looked across at her sister with shining eyes. “Oh Queenie,” she said. “It’s what we’ve been hoping for since we got here.” 

“And now it’s finally coming true!” replied Queenie, her face alight. “And the best part is that I won’t be left behind when you go.” 

“I told you I won’t give up on us,” said Tina, wrapping her arms around her sister and pulling her into a tight embrace, never wanting to let go. 

**** 

Things seemed better now, with the orphanage behind them and _both_ on their way to Ilvermorny, but Tina couldn’t help but feel that pang of loneliness at the thought that it would not be her parents waving goodbye to her when she left for Ilvermorny, as she had envisioned when she was younger. And how? How would Queenie cope with all those people around? It was more than the orphanage. How would she ever learn to block out all their thoughts? 

Queenie looked to her sister and wondered to herself, for she could hear the constant monologue inside her sister’s head— as loud as her own, how Tina would deal with Ilvermorny, hearing her thoughts, wondering whether the other students would like her despite having to learn from a young age to take care of herself and her younger sister. Would she be known as stuffy, prickly Porpentina? It filled nine-year-old Queenie with a deep sadness— she didn’t want to see her sister who had been so selfless and kind and much more to her all these years suffer that way. She just couldn’t.

And so, that night, as they both sat hand in hand on the ledge of the orphanage roof, waiting for dawn, they both vowed fiercely and silently, to watch over one another: as their mother had told them, as the Ilvermorny school song said, and, more importantly, as they both knew.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it x  
> If you wanna contact me, here's my tumblr: zahrah-xx


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